Lessons About A Price Too High
by devianaviator
Summary: Post HBP AU: The war is over and Voldemort is dead. So why does Harry Potter want to go back and do it all again? Harry learns exactly why changing the past is unadvised. CHAPTER 6 Up!
1. Prologue

Lessons About a Price Too High

_Prologue_

The War was over and Voldemort was dead. Those were the two primary thoughts in everyone's mind. But the man, standing in the middle of the cemetery overshadowed by the Riddle House, had something else to think about.

Yes, Harry Potter, at age twenty six, was back at the village of Little Hangleton… not that you would call it a village anymore. It was more of a ghost town now. The mere charred remains of what had once been, if not a prosperous, at least, a lively place. There would be no more houses built here though, not at the final battleground.

_It was fitting for him to die here _Harry thought, as he began walking around the graveyard. The once small cemetery was now the home of over seventy new headstones and as Harry continued along, he could name each one._Neville Longbottom… Ronald Weasley… Arthur Weasley… Bill (William) Weasley… Hermione Granger…_ and so many more. It seemed as if everyone he knew had passed away. Maybe they had.

When he came to a particularly large headstone, Harry stopped. Fingers clenched tightly he closed his eyes as he turned to face the headstone. He didn't open them. He already knew who this particular headstone belonged to, one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

Harry had never quite forgiven the old headmaster after his fifth year but it had still been a shock to hear of his untimely death at the hands what was once Harry's worst enemy. As hard as he tried to deny it, Dumbledore had been a kind of an anchor for Harry; the thing that remained the same when everything else withered and died.

Eyes still closed, Harry dove his hands into the pockets of his robes and dug around for the time turner. Reminder of his headmaster had given Harry the resolve he needed to carry on with what he was about to do. Once he used the time turner, he knew there was no turning back.


	2. 01 The Cupboard Under the Stairs

Lessons About A Price Too High

_Chapter 01 The Cupboard Under the Stairs_

The new time turner, like most other new magical discoveries in Harry's time, were all based around the number 8. Remembering this, Harry opened his eyes and studied the time turner intensely. _It wouldn't do for me to screw up now would it?_ Harry knelt on the ground and put the time turner down side ways. Making sure the time turner started at a flat 180 degrees was one of the details that he knew he had to get right. Steadying his trembling hands, he lifted it from the ground slowly, still making sure that the position of the time turner was parallel with the ground. Then he turned it twice, and closed his eyes again, waiting… waiting,,, _Didn't it work?_

Unable to resist it anymore, he wrenched open his eyes to find… nothing. _What the hell? _Darkness crowded in on Harry from all directions. _Where am I?_ Deciding that he would be better prepared if he was standing, Harry rolled off of his knees and attempted to stand up. Attempted being the key word there. Just as he was about reach what seemed to be his full height, WHACK. Pain engulfed Harry as his legs gave way and caused him to collapse on the floor again. In the sky, thunder roared. It was close behind, it was almost upon him… _Wait… what sky?_ Abruptly, the thunder stopped, a voice now replaced it instead, similar in volume.

"BOY! What are you trying to do? Wake up the whole neighborhood with that racket?" _You seem to be doing a better job of that than me. _Harry thought, but didn't say anything.

"Vernon!" another voice screeched. "Turn off those lights, it's past midnight for god's sake. What will the neighbors think?"

Rubbing his temples, Harry was trying ward away what he knew would be an oncoming headache. Whether it was from hitting the stairs or his relatives bellowing he didn't know or care at the moment. In fact, he would be quite glad if he never had to hear those voices again. But they had served their purposes. He now knew exactly where he was, the cupboard under the stairs.

For a moment, he couldn't understand how he had forgotten. Surely it hadn't been that long ago that he had been locked in here. Then he remembered the aftermath of a battle in his 7th year.

_Dementors, they were everywhere. How he had continued to duel with the coldness, and the screaming voices in his head he didn't know. What he did know, was that this had to stop. He would never win against Voldemort if he couldn't protect his own mind using Occulmency._

That was the day that he had truly decided put his mind to learning Occlumency. Once he had managed it, Harry had tucked away most of his childhood memories, happy and sad, to be reviewed when it was safe again. Apparently, his mind had now deemed the situation as "safe" and a tumult of long neglected memories rushed back to him. At least this answered one question on his mind. He would definitely not have to learn Occlumency or Legilimency again.

Rubbing his sore head solemnly, he began concentrating his wandless magic on healing it. Slowly, the pain dissipated leaving a now thoroughly exhausted Harry Potter lying on his cot. _Idiot_ he thought as he began to pass out. _You're a ten year old severely mal and under nourished boy who hasn't expanded his magical cor…_

**littlewolf-moony **

do you think I should change the rating to G? I was advised that I should give the highest rating possible just so wouldn't decide that somehow the rating was too low and remove my story.

the burial thing will be explained later on. A brilliant idea of the ministry's, you see

you're right about the untimely thing. if you can think of a word to replace it with, I'll change it.

**Hope12**

thank you. I'll try


	3. 02 Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

Lessons About A Price Too High

_Chapter 02 Wolf In Sheep's Clothing_

"Get UP, GET up!" Harry regained consciousness with a start. Well honed reflexes forced his body to get into a defensive position before he could think, which only resulted in another WHACK to his head as he fell in a heap on the floor. _Was it the floor? _Harry could never remember the floor being so springy. Groaning now, still not completely awake, Harry concentrated on the noise that woke him up in the first place. Sounded like a banshee… an extremely malicious banshee… except that banshees weren't malicious. After another scream and a hard rap, the creature moved away. Trying to get his bearings, Harry sat up carefully. Light spilled in from what seemed to be a vent to his immediate left, though why a vent would be there, he didn't know. Trying to peer out the vent led him to no avail either. For one thing, his vision was blurry as hell, which didn't make sense as he distinctly remembered taking a potion from the Black vault that would enhance his vision among various other things. Then he remembered the events of the night before and quickly turned to lie on his stomach. If that was Aunt Petunia screeching at him to get up, than the next event wouldn't be far behind.

Sure enough, just seconds after turning, the sound of a rampaging elephant thundered above him. Dust and other elemental particles fell along with several spiders. Harry remembered the time when he accidentally overslept and hadn't turned over when Dudley came bounding down the stairs. He was having a nightmare and woke from the sound, panting, only to have a spider fall down his throat. He had probably spent a whole ten minutes choking and spluttering. Needless to say, Harry developed a dislike for spiders after that. In fact, the only reason that he didn't fear them like Ron had was because he was forced to live with them and face his fear. Still, the memory sent shivers down Harry's spine.

Shaking his head to make sure that no spiders were caught in it, Harry slowly made his way out of the cupboard and into to the kitchen. "Oh Duddykins, only two days from your birthday! Aren't you excited dear?" said a doting Aunt Petunia with a proud smile on her face. Upon seeing Harry, that smile changed at once, into a scowl. "What are you standing there for? Go and do the dishes boy." Harry sighed and started working on the dishes. Until he had a time to think and sort out what to do next, he would just have to put up with his relatives…

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office rubbing his temples tiredly. It was only the start of term and the Weasley twins were already wrecking havoc. If it weren't for the Weasley's loyalty to him, he would have considered just tossing the lot out permanently. A knock on his office door interrupted his train of thoughts. _Ah… must be young Percy Weasley come to brandish another list of rule breakers. One would think he's a prefect already._ With expression set blank and twinkling in place, Dumbledore wandlessly waved the door open and said "Come in".

Percy Weasley walked in, indeed with a sheaf of parchment, but not looking nearly as pompous as he normally did. "Ahh Mr. Weasley, what can I do for you today?"

Percy handed Dumbledore the letter his mother had sent him and shifted nervously as he watched the esteemed headmaster read it. Inside, he was burning with shame and anger. He was furious when Errol arrived at the breakfast table with a letter from his mother, asking him to give up his education so his brother Ron could come to Hogwarts. _What kind of mother is she? HOW DARE SHE ask ME to give up MY future to cater the necessities of HER favorite son? It wasn't as if there weren't other, cheaper wizarding schools that Ron could go to. Why does she have to take away the best thing that ever happened to me? _While he raged and ranted inwardly, nothing suggested that Percy Weasley was anything but perplexed and bewildered on the outside. He knew he was a Weasley only by looks and not by heart. It was undoubtedly why he was the one chosen to be taken from the school even though he knew that Fred and George both would have agreed in a heart beat. As much as he would have loved to hate his "dear" mother for this act of treachery, he knew he couldn't. If he was anything, it was logical, and he knew what it boiled down to. Money and power, two things that the Weasley clan didn't have. Well he would change that. He would have both. He would make sure that his children NEVER had to worry about money. With both fists clenched tightly now, he promised himself _I will never be poor again._

Albus Dumbledore looked up from the letter in his hands and inwardly sighed. He should have known this was coming. He turned back to Percy and motioned for him to sit down. Before he could say anything, Percy started speaking.

"Professor Dumbledore, our family is barely managing to tide over this year and with Ron coming to Hogwarts, I'm afraid we won't have enough."

"And when is your brother coming to Hogwarts Mr. Weasley?" He needed to ask that, if only to show that he was indeed, concerned, before telling Weasley that there was nothing he could do.

"Next year, sir. He's very excited. He's wanted to come here ever since he was born and…" Dumbledore tuned out Percy's ramblings as he thought about the words _Next Year._ So the youngest Weasley son was coming to Hogwarts at the same time as Harry Potter? This could be used to his advantage. He needed to watch Harry and keep him under control and what better way than to have a Weasley his own age to condition in him loyalty to the light? This might just work. Dumbledore turned on his kindly grandfather expression and refocused back on Percy who was still going on and on about god-knows-what.

"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley calm down. Rest assured that you will not be forced to leave Hogwarts. I will owl your mother to set up a meeting with her and your brother and we'll have Ron take some tests and see what we can come up with."

He dimly heard a "Thank You Professor Dumbledore" before Percy sprinted out of the office presumably headed for the owlery. Meanwhile, the portrait of Philleus Nigellus woke from his pretend slumber and called out " Now what was that all about? You know as well as I do that there is no scholarship program here at Hogwarts. What's this about tests and meetings? What are you up to Dumbledore?

Dumbledore squinted up at the portrait and promptly replied, "I could tell you… but where would the fun be in that?"

"And may I ask where you plan to get this money for young Mr. Weasley's education?" asked the portrait, choosing to ignore Dumbledore's earlier comment.

Eyes now twinkling madly, Dumbledore turned to the portrait. With a hint of a smile he said, "Why, from the Potter trust fund of course."

**(A/N: Lol, I kind of went on a tangent didn't I?)**

**gallandro-83**

Thank you. We'll get to see more of Harry's life with the Dursleys in the next chapter.


	4. 03 Making the Plan

Lessons About A Price Too High

_Chapter 03 Making the Plan_

Harry was locked in his cupboard the moment the dishes were finished. Luckily, he didn't have anymore chores for the day. This was due, in part, to Petunia's new rich fanatical friends from the church. Apparently, they had come for tea the day before and were discussing trying to get a new law passed in Parliament prohibiting any work to be done on Sunday. Petunia, wanting to please her new friends had prohibited Vernon from giving the "wretched boy" any out door chores. Since Harry had already been tasked to clean the house the day before. So there was simply nothing left for him to do. This hadn't bothered Harry at all. He needed sometime to think about what to do next. The biggest problem was his magic. He knew it would take quite sometime to develop his magical core to the extent that it was at when he defeated Voldemort even without the mistakes or the magical burnout's. Wandless magic was extremely tiring and he wouldn't have a wand to get through the times when he didn't have enough energy. Oh well, he would just have to make due.

First, he needed something to allow his to read his own energy levels. Harry sat up and felt around for a small inanimate object. _A button! Perfect._Tearing the button off of it's respective shirt, Harry held it in his palm, closed his eyes, and concentrated. He pictured the atomic structure of Silver. Imagined each neuron, each proton, each electron pair. Then he sorted the electron pairs into their respective energy levels. Finally, he pictured a plain band like silver ring with random elven carvings all around in black and held both images in his mind. He felt his magic envelope the button making the change occur right on his palm. When the changes stopped, he didn't open his eyes just yet and continued to concentrate until he felt that every molecule had changed completely. About 10 seconds later, he opened his eyes and found the beautiful silver ring exactly as he imagined it.

Harry lay back down again, panting as if he had just run a race. Shaking his head as if to chase the exhaustion away, he wondered if he had enough energy left to charm the ring. Deciding that magical exhaustion would be worth it, Harry slowly sat up again. Holding the ring in front of him with one hand, he used the other to harness and throw his magic out._Potentia signum, _he thought, and once again, his magic enveloped the ring. With a flash of light, the elven carvings on the ring began glowing, and then, they were gone… well almost gone. Only a small portion of the very first character remained. He was just centimeters away from a major burnout. He put the ring on. As long as the ring was somehow touching him, it would tell him where his energy levels were at. He could have keyed the ring to himself, of course, instead of relying on physical contact but if the ring were to fall into the wrong hands, he didn't want it to reveal anything about him. Luckily, he had known the spell that allowed him to charm the ring. _If I had to use will magic like I did with the ring, I would definitely not be conscious right not,_ Harry thought, and with that, he fell asleep.

* * *

Vernon Dursely looked up at the clock impatiently. It was 11:00am, three hours since he had locked the boy in the cupboard. _It's been quiet in there ever since… _he thought_ was the boy sleeping?_ Vernon shook his head _No, probably planning some of his… unnaturalness._Oh Vernon Dursely had heard about it alright, Vernon Dursely had heard ALL about the unnaturalness known as magic from his darling Petunia. They had met one summer when she was 17 and living alone in London and it had been love at first sight for the both of them. Those days were full of fun and laughter, he remembered his heart racing every time he saw his Petunia. Oh those had been the best days of his life. When his heart was not so bad and his metabolism not so slow. He had been thin, lively, athletic… and then to top it off, he had gotten the management job at Grunnings right out of school. That was the night when he proposed to his Petunia. That was the night when he heard about all that unnaturalness. He remembered being fascinated with it at first. He remembered pushing his lovely Pet for more information. That was when, all pretenses fallen, Petunia had cried on his shoulder, sobbing about how her sister had put a curse on her to make her ugly, raging about the night when Lily had been playing with that unnaturalness and had burned the house down with their parents inside, screaming about the unfairness of her new "adopted parents", as if they had ever adopted her, she was just an accessory that came with the package that was Lily. Vernon had held her shaking body as she raged and vented, telling him every injustice that had ever been done to her. Vernon had known from that night forth that magic was evil. It caused nothing but pain, despair, corruption, and death. He promised his Pet that night, that there would be NO MAGIC in his home. _No… I won't break that promise to you Petunia. We'll beat it out of the boy, you'll see…_

Vernon thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and Petunia and Dudley walked in. They had just come home from shopping as Dudley's shirts were all too small for him. _Dudley's just growing up so fast, _Vernon thought leaning over to kiss his wife on the cheek. "What should we do today?" he asked "Since we aren't going to be doing anything productive, I thought we could have some fun as a "pre-birthday" party for Dudley."

"Oh that's a wonderful idea Vernon, we can spend the rest of the day at the amusement park. I'm sure Dudley would like that." Petunia smiled warmly at her husband. "But what about the boy?" she asked suddenly, "We can't leave him alone in the house. He might steal the silver and run off, or burn the house down."

Oh his Petunia was always the sensible one. It made him smile whenever he thought about it. "What about that Figg woman? Can't she take him today?" Petunia's face lit up.

"You go get him, and I'll call Mrs. Figg."

* * *

"BOY! Get UP. We're leaving soon." Harry groaned. How long had he slept? Two hours? Three? It didn't seem like a very long time. He looked at his ring. _Fifty percent power back… not bad. _He supposed his nightmare free nap had something to do with the power going up so fast. _I can't remember the last time I woke up without a nightmare, yet ever since I got back, it's like they've disappeared._ Hearing the lock unclick outside, Harry quickly pulled off the ring and stuck it in his pocket. If the Dursleys saw it, they'd probably accuse him of stealing.

"BOY, you're going to Mrs. Figg's." Vernon spoke as soon as Harry climbed out of the cupboard. Harry just nodded. He figured this would happen. When the Dursleys say "We're leaving soon", he wasn't included in the "we".

* * *

Arabella Figg was just beginning to write a letter to Remus Lupin when she heard the telephone ring. It was Petunia Dursley of course, calling to ask whether she could sit for Harry while the family went out. Before Arabella could say anything, though, Petunia said a quick Thank You and hung up. _Oh well, _Arabella thought, _it was really all for the best. After all, Remus did want a description of Harry and I haven't seen him for awhile._ She did wonder what she was going to do about Tuesday though. She had received an owl from Dumbledore who wanted to see her and ask how Harry was doing. They had a meeting like this about once a year though sometimes, Dumbledore was just too busy. He really seemed adamant about seeing her this year though… and she couldn't ask for a later date could she? Dumbledore was always so busy. Ah… she would think about it later. Now she had to prepare for Harry and finish her letter to Remus.

* * *

Harry watched as the Dursleys drove off and then walked over to Mrs. Figg's door to knock. He was still unsure how he would react seeing Mrs. Figg alive after watching her gruesome death some five years ago… no… 11 years in the future. While Dumbledore had gone into hiding from the ministry and was force to remain in 12 Grimauld Place, Voldemort had taken the opportunity to begin picking off the order members, one by one. Mrs. Figg, who was deathly afraid of heights, had been put under the imperious curse and forced to jump of the roof of her home. Harry, who had run away from 4 Pivet Drive watched her death via-mind link, courtesy of the Dark Lord.

The door opened and Mrs. Figg poked her head out and look around. After seeing Harry, she smiled and opened the door wide to let him in. "I'm a little tired today Mrs. Figg, do you mind if I kip on the couch for a bit?"

"Go ahead Harry, I'll just be over here if you need me." Mrs. Figg said pointing to the kitchen. Harry nodded, smiled, and said thank you before lying down on the couch where closed his eyes and pretended to fall asleep. After Mrs. Figg left the room, Harry opened his eyes and reached into his pocket for the ring. He took the ring out and examined it. Then…_compleo comburo signum_. _There_, now the ring would burn when he was one hundred percent charged. He would find a chain for it later. Content with himself, Harry moved on to the next plan. How to get to Diagon Alley. Several hours later, Harry had a plan.

**Hope12**

Here's more, tell me what you think.


	5. 04 Shifter Part I

Lessons About A Price Too High

_Chapter 04 Shifter (Part I)_

**(A/N: Not all spells will be explained in detail in this story like in the chapter before. I was mainly trying to tie in some magical theory that will become relevant in later chapters)**

Harry sat at his desk fiddling with his pen as he watched the clock and waited for Mr. Limberg to stop droning. _This guy could put Binns to sleep!_ Harry thought, glancing again at the clock. The sudden burning sensation near his chest told Harry that he was all charged up and ready to go. Finally the bell rang and grabbing his backpack, Harry followed the rest of his classmates out as Limberg reminded his students to come to him for help if they had any trouble. _How could anyone have trouble with MULTIPLYING FRACTIONS? Was there really anyone that thick? I know Dudley, and even he could breeze through this chapter. Well… I guess I'm giving Dudley too much credit on that._

Walking off school property, Harry tried to find a desolate area so he could slip on an invisibility cloak that he conjured and charmed the day before and apparate to the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron. This wasn't hard. Since Dudley and Piers weren't at school today, things had cooled off considerably. It wasn't hard for Harry to take advantage of Dudley's birthday celebrations to sneak a visit to the wizarding world. Dudley's last 11th birthday consisted of visiting a zoo and staying overnight in London… well, it WOULD have if Mrs. Figg hadn't broken her leg forcing Harry to go along with the Dursleys. This time around, though, Harry purposely began his outdoor chores at around the time he predicted Mrs. Figg had broken her leg. He had helped Mrs. Figg into her home and promised her that he would tell the Dursleys that she couldn't sit for him the next day. It was easy to conveniently forget to tell the Dursleys this and let them assume that everything was still fine.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat with five sheafs of parchment in is hand, If the amount of red on the parchment showed anything, Ronald Weasley had tested abysmally on every subject. Not that it mattered of course. The whole reason he had had the youngest Weasley son take the tests was pretend he scored high enough to warrant a scholarship. Now, seeing these scores, he was glad that he hadn't given them to the resident teachers to grade. All he had to do now was adjust the scores and change the answers incase Molly Weasley wanted to see the tests. More likely she would forget all about them in her excitement. For now, he would tuck the tests away and wait for Arabella to arrive to talk about Harry. Dumbledore sighed… it was going to be a long week.

* * *

When Harry stepped out from under the invisibility cloak, he was no longer a messy black haired green eyed Caucasian. His hair was straight and short now and he looked more Asian than anything else. His eye color was now a cool gray. Harry had waited almost a half an hour for someone to come by and open the barrier to Diagon Alley so that he could sneak in behind them. He didn't have a wand and performing wandless magic in the open wasn't a smart thing to do. Now that he had finally gotten through, the first place Harry was going to stop at was Gringotts, the wizarding bank.

Harry stepped into the crowded bank and looked around carefully. He was looking for Griphook, the goblin that his parents had assigned to look after their finances when they found out Voldemort was targeting them. It hadn't been a coincidence that Griphook was the goblin that rode with himself and Hagrid that first time he was in Gringotts. Finally spotting him standing over a pile of parchment, quill in hand behind one of the counters, Harry strode forward. "Griphook?"

* * *

Griphook looked up in surprise. Only the clients of his own accounts knew his name and few bothered to remember it. The boy in front of him didn't look like any of his own clients' children and Griphook wondered if he, perhaps, had just gotten lost. But that still didn't explain how the boy knew his name.

* * *

Harry almost squirmed under the gaze of Griphook. It seemed that no matter how old he was mentally, Griphook would always be able to make him feel terribly childish. "Do you think we can talk in your office?" Harry asked looking around. Griphook looked even more shocked than before. _He should though, _Harry thought to himself, _not many people know he has an office._ After being put through intense scrutiny, it seemed that Griphook had finally decided that there would be no danger in speaking in private and beckoned Harry to the back and into his office. Once there, Harry morphed back into his original form.

"A Shifter!" Griphook gasped before he could stop himself. Harry smiled absently, remembering the first time Griphook had deemed him that. It was in his seventh year and he had just turned seventeen and inherited the Potter vault and Black vault. He remembered telling Griphook, the last time around, that he was a "metamorphmagus" only to be admonished. It was Griphook who helped Harry discover and develop the full extent of his shifting power. This time, Harry just smiled and put his hand out. "I'm Harry Potter, Griphook. I understand that you manage the Potter account and I wanted to talk to you about a few things."

* * *

Griphook stared at the hand stretched in front of him. Wizarding children were taught to despise and detest goblins and other magical creatures. He had never shaken a wizard's hand in his life though he had seen wizards shake each other's often enough. _But this is the Potter boy._ He thought. The Potters had always helped the goblins, the head goblin had told him that when the Potters charged him to be account manager. But even James Potter, as amazingly friendly and unbiased as he was against goblins hadn't offered his hand to Griphook.

* * *

Harry sighed when Griphook reluctantly shook his hand. He had forgotten how unusual it was for a wizard to offer his hand to a goblin.

"Please Mr. Potter, sit down so that we may speak of your account. You have been withdrawing regularly have you not?"

"What?" Harry looked up with surprise. "I've never been in this bank before."

"Be that as it may, Mr. Potter, records show that we send the 250 galleons equivalent of pounds to your place of residence every month, addressed to a Vernon Dursley?" Harry must have looked shocked because Griphook quickly added, "Of course, that doesn't make a dent in your trust fund since we transfer 500 galleons a month from the main Potter Vault."

"So how much money do I have in the trust fund right now?" Harry asked. He was going to deal with the money being sent to the Dursleys later._I should have suspected this. _Harry berated himself. _All of the money for Dudley's birthday presents and the new car had to have come from somewhere._ He snapped out of reveire in time to hear the sum in his vault. Just a bit over 50,000 galleons… _50 THOUSAND GALLEONS_. "Do you think it would be possible to stop the monthly transfers from the main vault and seal it off until I am of age, Griphook?" Harry asked.

* * *

For the third time that day, Griphook was shocked. He had expected Potter to want to increase the amount transferred, not close it off completely. He had been prepared to explain all about how his parent's will indicated that his allowance should be 500 galleons a month. He had been ready to show Potter the documents that plainly stated that the account manager should not increase the amount of transfer. _But it never said anything about decreasing it._ Griphook thought. _The boy seemed so surprised that he was getting money. Does that mean that his relatives never told him?_ It was the only reasonable explanation. "Of course Mr. Potter. I will freeze the main Potter vault immediately… but, if I may ask, why stop the transfers?" Potter stared up at him as if weighing his trustworthiness, then, finally replied, " I don't want Dumbledore or my guardians to get their hands on the entire Potter fortune."

* * *

Harry had briefly considered lying when Griphook had asked why he wanted the vault sealed, but this was Griphook. Six years difference did not make the goblin any less trustworthy. Griphook had looked distressed at having to take action against Dumbledore but Harry didn't blame him. Dumbledore, after all, was a formidable opponent. He, himself, had not planned to allow Dumbledore to know about his independence. He would continue to be "the Golden boy", "Poster Boy of the Light", until Voldemort was dead. He could afford to be this time around. " Actually Griphook, I would like to keep my visit a secret from Dumbledore… if that's possible."

* * *

Griphook felt relieved. If young Potter wanted to keep things from Albus Dumbledore, he certainly wasn't going to stop him. If Dumbledore EVER found out about it, he could wreck havoc in Griphook's department _and most likely get me ostracized from the bank_. Griphook thought. But if they planned carefully, no one would ever have to know. " I should let you know, Mr. Potter, that all withdrawals are recorded and sent to Dumbledore on a statement sheet as soon as they are made."

* * *

Harry cursed. _Trust that old meddlesome fool to make things difficult._ After discovering that the Dursleys were getting rich off of him, Harry wasn't ready to deal with more bad news. "Is there anyway I could withdraw some money now, without getting him suspicious?" he asked resignedly. Looking up, Harry saw a gleam in Griphook's eyes.

"Well you see Mr. Potter, I always send your relatives their money at the end of the month, but if they were to… request it early… this certainly wouldn't be the first time..." Harry grinned at Griphook's genius. _Of course!_ He thought. _I'll just take the money now and get the bare necessities now and find a way to get the money back later._ It was the tenth, so Harry would have roughly two weeks to come up with 250 galleons. He was sure he could do it.

"I think the Dursleys are just itching for that advance this month, Griphook. If you would be so kind to get it for them." Griphook walked to a wall to the right of Harry and ran a crooked finger down the stone. Instantly, a safe appeared and he produced the 250 galleons. He scooped the 250 galleons into a bag and it magically shrunk.

"This," Griphook handed the bag to Harry. "is a magical money pouch. It is weightless, built to hold over 5,000 galleons, and shrinks and expands as needed. Normally, I take the galleons from this safe, send it over to the conversion department, and then magically transfer the amount back into the safe. However, since you are here…"

Harry beamed at Griphook, shifted back into his disguise, took the money pouch, and said, "Thanks! Oh, and by the way, call me Harry." With that, Harry shook Griphook's hand again, and left the bank._Now for the shopping…_


	6. 04 Shifter Part II

Lessons About A Price Too High

_Chapter 04 Shifter (Part II)_

Harry Potter stepped out into Diagon Alley, with backpack slung over shoulder, and 250 galleons in his pocket. Nearby, he could see Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions, but decided against going in. He would, after all, get his school robes when Hagrid came to retrieve him._ Besides, I'm not sure that 250 galleons would be enough to get all that I want to get today. _He thought. Finally, Harry decided to go to Borgins and Burkes. It seemed like a pawn shop more than anything else and he wanted to sell the invisibility cloak he had conjured yesterday for some extra funds.

Harry didn't have to walk very far into Knockturn Alley before he saw Borgins and Burkes. As he stepped in, the bell on the door ran, indicating that there was a customer. Mr. Borgin, hands clasped, stepped out of the back room greedily. Upon seeing a ten year-old boy, he stopped and frowned. "What business do you have here… and be quick about it, I have many things to attend to in the back." He snapped, impatiently.

Harry ignored him and casually reached into his backpack for the invisibility cloak. "So I guess you aren't interested in this?" he asked. Borgin's eyes grew wide with excitement.

"Is that what I think it is?" he asked.

"That depends…" Harry said coolly leaning in slightly as he did. Then he drew closer, until his face was almost touching Borgin's. "What_EXACTLY_ do you think it is?" he all but hissed. Actually, Harry had no idea why Borgin was so excited. Sure, Ron had told him how rare an invisibility cloak was. But the order had use of two so it couldn't have been that rare. Then again, maybe it was just his inexperience with the wizarding world. _After all, one didn't just sit around reading books on wizarding ettiquette, business, and politics when there was a maniacal dark lord about._ Harry thought bitterly. _Especially of said person just HAPPENED to be on the top of said dark lords list of people to off._

"A.. A-an… an unregistered invisibility cloak." _WHAT? Oh… Borgin, he was talking. WAIT… UNREGISTERED? _Harry forced himself to remain calm on the outside and Borgin continued excitedly, all pretenses forgotten. "Why I haven't seen one since… since…"

"So I take it that you are interested then." Harry said cut in. The gleam in the man's eyes told him that he was very much so. "How much will you offer?" Borgin straightened up immediately.

"I'll give you 70 galleons for it. The ministry would likely boil me alive if they found out that an unregistered invisibility cloak existed in England."

"I doubt the ministry would need this to lock you away for good Borgin." Harry replied. " Your price is unacceptable." Turning around, Harry began to walk out.

"WAIT!" Borgin cried. Looking as if he hated himself for giving up so easily, Borgin offered another price. " 200 galleons. But store credit only…" Harry thought it over for a few seconds, then nodded. In all likelihood, the cloak was probably worth more and the store credit bit was annoying. But it was getting dark outside and if the shops closed, then Harry would have to come back to Diagon Alley again, a feat that would be hard to accomplish.

"Let me look at your items first." Harry said and when Borgin didn't object, he started towards the back of the shop. The shop, as it turned out to Harry's amazement, was quite big. It was only charmed to look small so that passing by Aurors could just stand at the door and let their eyes sweep for anything illegal before leaving. Of course, Borgin never left anything illegal out in the front for anyone to see. Getting nearer to the back, Harry spotted one of the things that he was looking for, an Auror's trunk. Well, not really a trunk, this one was more of a briefcase. It was a black leather case with two keyholes in the front. After a word with Borgin, Harry had the two keys in hand and opened the compartment. The first, was expanded into the size of a regular trunk. The second, however, was as large as Dudley's second bedroom. "How much is this briefcase?" Harry asked Borgin, who had temporarily closed the store to assure that no stray Auror would get their hands on the unregistered invisibility cloak.

"130 Galleons. Auror's cases are hard to come by." Harry just nodded, indicating that he was going to buy it from Borgin, before continuing. Coming upon a bookshelf crammed in between several jars of organs, Harry's eyes opened wide in confusion when it he saw it. But it was undeniable. There on the bookshelf of what was known as the darkest shop in Diagon Alley was the book, "Wish Magic, Will Magic, Word Magic". Hagrid had sent this book to him on his sixteenth birthday just one day before being killed while on a second journey to conciliate with the giants. Harry had always wondered where Hagrid had gotten the book, as it was obviously nothing the Ministry would release. _No. You can't think about this. Not now. Not here. Not in front of Borgin. _Harry closed his eyes and occluded his mind, locking the thought within a chamber in his mind. He would come back and reexamine it later. Snapping out of his reverie, Harry quickly grabbed the book. Then, another book caught his eye. "_The Dualis Ring_" the title read. _Sounds philosophical,_ Harry thought as he picked the book up. _The front cover is thick_, Harry thought opening the book to the first page. Immediately, he found out why, for in an indent in the front cover of the book, was a silver ring. It was a simple band, there was nothing significant about it except for two small circles burned on the inside of the ring. Feeling instant curiosity, Harry turned back to Borgin.

"What's this ring do?" he asked. Borgin looked up from a magazine he had taken out of his pockets when Harry had first began looking through the books.

"You can see it?" Borgin asked gruffly. Harry raised his eyebrows and didn't reply. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Borgin started talking again. "You must be powerful enough to use it if you can see it. I wouldn't try though… that ring… that ring drives you mad."

"You still haven't told me what it does." Harry stated calmly, ignoring Borgin's earlier comment.

"It's called a dualis ring for a reason you daft boy! It splits you into two." Suddenly, Borgin became quiet. Harry, deciding not to press the subject, asked about buying a pensieve. Borgin just pointed to a nearby shelf wordlessly and as Harry examined the row of pensieves trying to determine which one to buy, he could hear him muttering. "It splits you into two… yes… quite useful… drives you mad… yes… the human conscious was never meant to be split into two… no… no it wasn't… no… but did she listen…? Of course not… she was always trying new things… didn't listen… didn't realize… and now the boy… yes… the boy… I should give it to the boy… I have kept it for far too long… too long…"

Harry had just finished picking out his pensieve when Borgin seemed to wake up from his daze. " I'd like to purchase this…" Harry was cut off as Borgin waved him aside.

"Here are the rest of your purchases," he said, handing Harry his briefcase with the two books. Swiftely taking the invisibility cloak from Harry, Borgin pushed him out of the shop. "I have business to attend to and I'm sure you do too." Mr. Borgin shook his head, "It doesn't matter." And with that, Borgin walked back into his shop.

Harry opened his briefcase to the first compartment and put his two books, his backpack, and the empty pensieve inside. _What the hell was wrong with Borgin?_ Harry wondered as he closed his briefcase and walked swiftly out of Knockturn Alley. The sun hadn't quite set yet outside so there was still time to get the rest of his much needed supplies.

At Flourish and Blotts, Harry bought more than half a dozen books. He got a copy of _Everyday Household Spells by Hannah Quigsby, Advanced Transfiguration by Raine Cogswop, La Crème de La Crème : Wizarding Ettiquette by Eclaire Malarez, Most Potent Potions by Horatio Crawford, Veritas: Magical Disguises and Surveillance by Kolbart Stork, Quickspell : A Guide to Advanced Charms by Dilacio Degall, _and _Wizard Deals : Prices For the Inexperienced by Robert Wiklestick. _Harry paid twenty-three galleons for the books and left for the Apothecary.

* * *

"Albus, this is wonderful." In truth, Molly Weasley was never very comfortable with asking her oldest son in Hogwarts to take his NEWTs early and leave school. _Percy shouldn't have to pay for our mistakes… NO_. Molly shook her head. Ron was not a mistake, Ginny was not a mistake… they weren't very well planned, but certainly not a mistake. _It doesn't matter Molly!_ She scolded herself. _Albus is going to help put Ron through school. Thank goodness he was a bright child. I must remember to ask Albus for those test scores…_

* * *

Harry stepped out of the Apothecary with over 700 new ingredients as well as a potions lab stowed away in his briefcase, second compartment. He had managed to barter the price down to 211 galleons after arguing that his was a large order and deserved the best price. That left him with 16 galleons left. The ring burned again and Harry quickly made his way back to Gringotts to change the gold into pounds. The exchange rate was good today and he got 224 pounds. _The Weasleys could live like kings in the muggle world…_ Harry thought as he left Gringotts, crossed the barrier and apparated back to 4 Privet Drive

The first thing Harry did when he got back was transfiguring the briefcase from the black leather material to midnight gray titanium. Then, he shrunk it to roughly the size of a small paperback book and was just about to shove it into the baggy jeans of his pocket when he groaned and hit himself on the forehead with exasperation. He was planning to settle in to his new room in the second compartment wasn't he? Why did he shrink the briefcase? Harry pulled the ring out from inside his shirt to check his energy levels._ 25 percent gone,_ he thought. _Not bad_. His magical core was expanding fast. He took the briefcase out of his pocket and was about to enlarge it again when a thought struck him. _What if…? It would work… he had seen the room before. _Harry pictured the room inside of his case and apparated there. He sighed with relief as he saw the potions lab and ingredients in the corner of the room. _So it is possible to apparate here_ he thought, and mentally reminded himself to take the locks off of the case when he went back out again. After all, he wouldn't need them any more. Harry conjured a soft king sized mattress with a pillow and dutifully plopped down on it. Pulling the ring back out from under his shirt, Harry thought about how irritating it was that he had to do this every time he wanted to check his energy and how weird it would look when he got back to Hogwarts. He decided to cast a gradual incline charm on it. Now the ring went from icy cold (0 degrees Fahrenheit) to burning (100 degrees Fahrenheit) and all of the degrees in between depending on the percentage of energy he had left. The ring was now warm which indicated near 50. Harry shrugged. Conjuring always took more energy than transfiguration or apparation. After all, you were practically starting out from scratch with the air molecules. Settling down more comfortably, Harry decided to start on one of the books he had just bought. One problem though… ALL of his books were in the other compartment. Harry groaned, he didn't want to get up from the comfortable mattress but he couldn't apparate into the other compartment… it was way too small. Then another thought struck him. If he could apparate himself and his items to and from Diagon Alley, why wouldn't he be able to just apparate the books from the other compartment into this one? Stretching his magic out, Harry mentally surrounded his books and moved them from the first to the second compartment.

Ooofff, Harry cringed as nine books dropped onto his stomach. He was pushing the books off of his stomach with haste when a black book caught his eye. _It's The Dualis Ring! _Harry thought, remembering Borgin's words and strange behavior. _Splits you into two? If I can do it, then I won't have any problems going back to Diagon Alley and keeping up with the rest of the wizarding world. _Deciding that it was too good of a opportunity to keep waiting, Harry flipped open the book and began reading.

* * *

Albus was sitting in the Leaky Cauldron waiting for one Arabella Figg to arrive and thinking about his earlier meeting with Molly Weasley. She had been surprised when he had contacted her the night her letter had been received to deliver the tests to the Weasley residence. She was even more surprised at how quickly he could get things done when he arrived the next day with the results. Perhaps it was a bit… rushed, but he had felt that it was necessary to move things along.

" Albus?"

* * *

It was the middle of the night and Harry knew he should sleep before he collapsed from exhaustion, but he didn't. He had read _The Dualis Ring_ from cover to cover before trying the actual thing on, but nothing could prepare him for what came next. The feeling of ripping in two was agonizing. Even worse, was the feeling after that. The buzzing and constant stream of information was too much. Borgin had been right. It was maddening. In the end he had to completely separate one entity from the other. This of course, caused his "other self" to stop breathing. He had to rip off the ring to stop his other half from dying. With practice though, Harry was sure he would be able to get it right.


	7. 05 Wish Magic, Will Magic, Word Magic

Lessons About A Price Too High

_Chapter 05 Wish Magic, Will Magic, Word Magic_

**(A/N: So… I was checking my email one day when a miracle happened. After 6 long months of total lack of reviews to the point where I had actually forgotten my fanfiction existed, in my mailbox there were THREE reviews… NO! not one… not two… but 3 (whose reviewer names can be found on the bottom of this chapter). This chapter is rather short since I'm just restarting which is why I'm going to dedicate my next chapter (Chapter 06 Marauders Inc) to those three reviewers. Enjoy)**

Three days later, Harry had finally managed to get a grip on exactly how to use the dualis ring. It took awhile, but he created a pool of memories (with the help of his newly acquired pensieve for each of his halves to draw upon. Then he gave instructions to one of his halves while he inhabited the other. He knew he couldn't completely cut off one half of himself from the other but managed to tone down the stream of information to a minimal. The buzzing was still there, in the background and no matter what, some of his attention would always be diverted to his "other half" but it was something he could live with. More frustrating, however, was his super slow reflexes. Since both of his entities used the same timeframe, everything took twice as long to do. Then, when he "became one" again, it took awhile for him to reorient himself to the vamped up speed his reflexes normally were. _Not exactly useful in combat…_Harry thought, but otherwise, it served its purpose.

With just a little over a week left before he had to replace the 250 galleons he had "borrowed" from the Dursleys, Harry could waste no time beginning his enterprise. He had put it off in order to acquaint himself with the dualis ring. Though he thought learning to use the dualis ring was well worth the time spent, Harry was still a little worried. He had taken three whole days and he still had a load of things to do before he could begin earning back the money he had spent. As easy as it was just to conjure another invisibility cloak or something else of equal value, Harry knew that he shouldn't. Valuable and apparently "unregistered" items could fall into the wrong hands and help work against him later. This was why he was now reading Wizard Deals tirelessly into the night. Though book had its merits, Harry knew enough about the world now to understand that prices fluctuated and he had to keep up with the rapid pace of change. Memorizing the book would only give him a relative idea of what things cost, what was expensive, and what was cheap. To truly grasp the value of an item, he would have to return to Diagon Alley frequently to keep tabs on the prices.

Harry was now permanently living in the second compartment of his briefcase. He had added a ventilation system when he realized that the room did not have one. It had taken quite a bit of effort and will magic on his part… will magic always used more energy than wish or word magic. Harry remembered the shock of discovering that there were three types of ways to use magic. The method used by most wizards was the weakest. But the more he got accustomed to the idea, the more it started making sense. Word magic, while the weakest of three magics, was also the easiest to use. It did make sense that wizards these days took the easy route of learning "routine" magic instead of taking the time to understand the theory behind it. He, himself, took the same route learning mathematics. 1 x 8 was 8, it was a fact and he had never questioned the why. Wish magic, you couldn't learn. It was also known as accidental magic, an incident or development that results completely from a desperate wish or desire. Every wizarding child had had experience with this type of magic and while it was uncontrollable, knowledge of its existence was still important. Wish magic explains the very essence of what magic is: an intent, a driving force. One needn't have any intelligence or logic to use magic, all they have to know is what they want, then, want said thing or event enough. When the wizard or witch only wishes moderately for something, they have a difficult time expressing their intent. Their magic remains confused and inactive. Word magic uses the cultural understanding of sounds to more clearly express intent. This was why certain spells sound negative, even though one may have no idea what said spell does. As wizards and witches learn and memorize spells, their definition of what sounds "positive" or "negative" are reinforced. They associate certain sounds more readily with certain intentions and have an easier time casting new spells that have similar sounds. Nothing, however, greater expresses intention than a desperate wish cast at the eleventh hour which was why Wish magic was the most powerful of the three magics. The last and most stable of the three magics was will magic. This was the type of magic that Harry had used to transfigure his ring and conjure the invisibility cloak he had sold. Using will magic required the utmost amount of concentration, precision, and knowledge of what one wanted. But it required no knowledge of words or wand movement or wands… for that matter. That's what made it especially useful. One simply willed the effect to happen and used their knowledge of molecular structure to ease it along. Unlike wish or word magic, one really had to know a lot about an effect to make it happen…

* * *

Ron's eyes flew around the room to the strange things in Dumbledore's office. "Lemon Drop, Mr. Weasley?" Ron shook his head in decline. The old headmaster seemed disappointed. At any other time, Ronald would have gladly accepted the treats; it was never his habit to turn down anything edible; but today, was different. For what seemed to be the first time in his life, Ronald Weasley felt… important, and nervous. When Dumbledore had brought the testing materials to the Burrow five days before, he was supremely confident in his success. After the test, however, Ron wasn't so sure. Even his own ego would not allow him to feel reassured as he had had to guess on more than 50 percent of the problems. His thoughts were interrupted as Dumbledore began speaking again. "Well it seems that you have gotten the required scores to earn a full scholarship to Hogwarts Mr. Weasley. I hope you are very pleased with yourself as it is an immense accomplishment." Ron blushed. It had been so long since he had been complimented on anything. Percy was the book smart one in the family, Bill was the dashing romantic curse breaker, Charlie, the daring, athletic adventurer, and Fred and George, the mischievous pranksters. There seemed no title left for the sixth Weasley son. But now though, now all of that had changed. He, Ron, would be the best of them all. He would oust all of his brothers and be the most favored Weasley. It would be he that would give the Weasley Clan the break it so desperately needed. He would be the Weasley's patriarch! It would only be matter of time.

* * *

Albus stared at the youngest Weasley son with interest and amusement, studying the young boy like a predator studies its prey. He had long stopped speaking and was currently waiting for Weasley to snap out of his trance like stupor. The glazed eyes of the boy told him all he needed to know about the character of the youngest Weasley son. _He is ambitious…_ Dumbledore thought._ Not so unlike his brother Percy in that sense._ Albus assumed that it was only Fred and George's constant teasing that prevented Ron from becoming as pompous as Percy. It didn't matter though. It would be easy enough to convince young Ronald to help him "keep an eye out" on Harry during the school year.

* * *

Feeling the full stare of his future headmaster, Ron snapped out of his reverie and realized that Dumbledore had stopped talking. He blushed again, this time in embarrassment. "Err, sorry Professor Dumbledore, what were you saying?" "Ahh… back among us now? Mr. Weasley?" asked Dumbledore amusedly. This caused further blushing and an uncomfortable squirm from Ron. _Idiot!_ He thought to himself, _You've screwed it up already! _But Dumbledore didn't seem to mind. He was still smiling that grandfatherly smile. " As I was saying… Mr. Potter will be arriving at Hogwarts the same time that you will and he might have some… trouble… settling in. That's why I want you to help him." Ron's mind was reeling._Potter? Does he mean The Harry Potter?_ But he had no time to ponder this as Dumbledore continued, "With your … academic talent… and knowledge of the school itself which undoubtedly your brothers told you all about, you would be the ideal candidate to help Mr. Potter settle in… Unless, of course, if you don't want the job."

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was very tired. After Weasley finally left there was mountains of paper work to fill out. Then he had to meet with the Decloures to discuss all of the abysmal grades their daughter had received that term. Therefore, he had little time to address the issues that Arabella had told him. _So the boy is getting skinnier and skinnier… we can solve that problem once he's here. All of the physical labor he's been doing is a bit of a worry… but he can't be too dependent on anyone. He has to learn that only he can save himself in the end. It's ESSENTIAL for his survival!_ Yes indeed, Albus Dumbledore was very tired.

**Cataclysmic**

Thank you! I really wanted to fill in some of the theory that JK never really explains.

**HarrySlytherinson**

**ScrewyLouie12**


	8. 06 Marauders Inc Part I

Lessons About A Price Too High

_Chapter 06 Marauders Inc. (Part I)_

**(A/N: As noted in the last chapter, this chapter is dedicated to Cataclysmic, HarrySlytherinson, and ScrewyLouie12)**

"When dividing fractions, you simply take the…" _Miranda Kirkchell's Magical Hair Shampoo 5 to 7 Sickles for… _ "After you've flipped it then just multip…" _ rag's Broom Servicing Kit 10 to 15… _ "Remember you have to flip, that's called taking the reciproca…" Harry's attention couldn't help but wander between Mr. Limberg's boring lecture on the division of fractions and the even more boring task of memorizing_Wizard Deals_. Using the dualis ring while in public turned out to be a very different experience from using the ring in a private, safe environment. At least, in private when he accidently shifted between bodies whilst moving, no one would become suspicious of his odd behavior. Now, he had to concentrate even while doing the simplest tasks, like shifting in his chair or twirling his pencil.

_Maybe if I had something interesting to work on I wouldn't move around so much._ Thinking this was a good idea, Harry began reaching down to his backpack to get his notebook and a pen when his 'meter' ring slid across his chest (it's still on the chain). For the first time that day, Harry realized how cold it was. Of course, it was hard to notice the gradual change when the ring was lying in one place and realizing this, Harry was infinitely thankful that he had forgotten to cast a gravity charm on it to keep it still when he ran. Nothing good would come from collapsing of magical exhaustion at school and being sent to a muggle hospital where his unconsciousness couldn't be explained. _Note to self: Check temperature every hour._ Harry wished he could just take the ring out now to see how close to magical exhaustion he actually was but there was no way of doing that without attracting attention. _Too bad there are no more breaks left today…_ Checking quickly with his other half, he realized that he had already reached the last chapter of the book which happened to be "Magical Cleaners and Disinfectants" Shifting back, he put both hands underneath his desk and pulled the ring off of his finger to put back on the chain. Harry tried to hold still as his limbs reacquainted themselves with what he called "realtime". He had a feeling that he would never really get used to the shift between realtime and dualtime but he did not fall flat on his face like he did the first time he pulled out. Finally, when he felt he could move without surprising himself too much, he reached down once again and grabbed his notebook and pen. He was still moving "too fast" for his brain's current orientation's liking though of course, to everyone else, he was moving at a normal speed. _Time to start planning for another trip to Diagon Alley._

Harry began to jot down a list of things that he needed to do.

Go to Gringotts and open an account separate from the rest of the Potter accounts.

Find a way to deposit and withdraw money without having to go the bank everytime.

Find a way to keep in contact with Griphook without having to go the bank everytime.

Get Post Owls to deliver the packages to the selected member's homes.

Go through shops and make a list of actual prices.

……

* * *

Draco Malfoy was sprawled on the hard stone floor of his five story mansion, blood gushing out of two deep cuts in his side. His wand lay two feet away, though it might as well have been a thousand. His father's looming form came closer and closer and Draco closed his eyes dreading the curses he was about to endure. He thought back and cursed the day when he, at the unlucky age of 7, had done accidental magic in front of his father. That was the day that his childhood had ended and though, at first, he thought it was worth it to see the proud gleam in his father's eyes, he wasn't so sure anymore.

* * *

On Saturday, Harry was busy adding the finishing touches to his business project, an instantaneous catalogue ordering method. He knew it would be successful because with his method, there would be virtually no waiting time between the order being made and the item being received. _I guess all those years of listening to Ron complain about post owls really paid off, _he thought. There were 5 members he wanted to start out with. Fred and George Weasley, Cedric Diggory, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood. He would need charmed mirrors for all of them. These mirrors should be able to exchange text messages with the master, move items back and forth instantaneously, receive information from the master set, and respond to voice as well as touch commands. Using Will Magic, he conjured and charmed a total of 5 mirrors along with his master set, one mirror every 3 hours (he would have to pace himself to avoid magical exhaustion) and the master last. Meanwhile, he wrote his letter of invitation and created the catalogues for his master set. Categories included: Robes and Clothing for all Occasions, Potions and Ingredients, Quidditch Supplies, Magical Entertainment, and Magical Jewelry and Weapons. It was 3 am before Harry, completely exhausted, collapsed on his bed and fell asleep.

* * *

It was a bright Sunday afternoon at the Burrow, well, bright everywhere except for in one room where a mysterious cloud seemed to appear. "Oye Fred! Quick! Get the rain buckets. Mum will have our hides if the carpet gets wet!" shouted a lanky red-haired boy. Fred, his twin and partner in crime leapt to his feet, grabbed a bucket, and was now frantically trying to keep up with the cloud as it circled the room. Neither of them noticed the post owl that had appeared at the window with a flat round package.

* * *

Harry sat happily outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Shop as he thought about the successful morning he had. The trip to Gringotts had been a breeze and Griphook had solved all of his problems by giving him a two-way magical letter box. Harry was glad that his will magic had allowed him to create instantaneous travel with multiple recipients as he couldn't imagine the horror of organizing several two-way mirrors. After all, Griphook had a whole separate office to keep all of his letter boxes. That was beside the point however, as he could now send letters, give deposits, or get withdrawals without ever having to leave his trunk. Getting the post owls was a bit harder as Harry had only 16 galleons left. He managed, however, though sadly, he was only able to hire four owls at 4 galleons each and to pass the weight specifications, had only been able to send the Weasley twins one enchanted mirror instead of two. He hoped they wouldn't mind.

* * *

Draco Malfoy stepped out of Borgin and Burkes 650 galleons poorer but with a prize that he felt was much worth the galleons spent… an unregistered invisibility cloak.

Draco had come to Diagon Alley with not much in mind except to spend his stockpiled allowance money while he could. His father had been called away to the Ministry and had "unfortunately" not been able to test him on that day's learning materials. _And mother, well, mother has that "going to school" ball she has to plan. Though I don't see why, after all, we've all known for years that I could get into which ever wizarding school I chose. _Draco sighed at this thought. His mother was always on about this party or another and rarely had anytime for him. Of course, it was very respectable to be invited to all of these parties and he knew that she was forging political and social bonds with what was left of the purebloods, but still, sometimes he wished that he could see more of her. He knew she loved him, that was for sure… but still… _Arg… you're being a prat, _he told himself, _think of all of the times mother never told father about your accidental magic. Think of the reason you're not being sent to Durmstrang!_

* * *

_Urgg, you're being lazy!_ Harry thought. _There are so many more things that need to be done and you're still sitting here._ But even as he berated himself, Harry Potter knew that there was no way he was getting out of his seat. Perhaps it was the warm sunshine, or maybe the third ice cream sundae was just a little too much, but he really couldn't budge… not that he wanted to… But then, a flash of platinum blond caught his eye, and Harry saw someone that made him want to jump from his seat. For once, he was glad that his reactions were so much slower than his thoughts and he managed to restrain himself. An eleven year old Draco Malfoy, with no sign of the famous sneer twisting his face, was what had caught Harry's attention. It seemed like Malfoy was walking aimlessly, though, apparently he had a destination in mind as he turned left and started heading straight towards Harry. Harry's heart nearly stopped before he remembered that he and Malfoy hadn't met yet and that he was decked out in his Shifter form with no messy hair or pesky scar in sight. He tried to relax his features as Malfoy walked up and asked, "Mind if I sit here?"

* * *

Normally no Malfoy would EVER opt to sit with any other wizard or witch of unknown origins and Draco was sure that if he had been at this establishment with his father, his father would have demanded that table and chairs be transfigured for them. Today, however, his father wasn't here and Draco didn't really want to draw attention to himself. If he did, then someone nearby would surely recognize him and inform his father of his outing and the fact that he had not been at home studying like he was told. He would just have to take his chances and pray that he wasn't sitting next to some mudblood that would taint his magic and his name. "A chocolate smoothie" he said, turning to Fortescue, who had noticed his arrival. Then he turned back to the boy sitting opposite him. He looked around 11, not too tall, not too short, definitely not of English descent but not unrespectable yet. In fact, in some areas, he seemed distinctly aristocratic. All families of wealth had taught their children that a member of their line must never seem eager and move with an air of grace and calmness that befitted their station. Though his father had tried to drill this particular trait in him, Draco often found difficulty hiding his excited emotions. The boy across from him, however, was doing exactly that with a naturalness that even his father did not possess. Deciding that this boy was fit to befriend, Draco stuck out his hand and began to say, "Hullo, I'm Dra…"

* * *

"You're Draco Malfoy" It just came out. He hadn't meant to say it. It had just come out. Malfoy looked surprised, then, gave a superior sneer._Great, now you've gone and inflated his ego. It's bigger than ever before… if that's possible. _"Yes, well of course you would know who I am, and you are?" Harry froze. _What should I say?_ Though he had never been overly fond of Malfoy, he knew that Draco wasn't evil. An annoying spoilt brat with a serious jealousy problem, yes; but ultimately, not evil. _I should know what evil is…_ "Nicolas Tan" he replied, remembering his current appearance.

* * *

_A foreigner… but I expected that,_ thought Draco, _but not a mudblood, not with that aristocratic drawl. _"And wha…" he began to say, but Nicolas beat him to it. "What are you planning to do today?" "Planning to spend all of this money," Draco said, pointing to the money sack at his waist. Nicolas raised his eyebrows. "Risky, risky… and how do you know I'm not a thief planning to run off with all of your gold?" _Was this idiot daft?_ Draco thought. _Everyone knew that every Malfoy pouch had extensive antitheft charms on them. Maybe he's joking..._ Once again, before Draco was able to comment, Nicolas began speaking again. "Besides, why spend it all now? It isn't befitting of a Malfoy to look as if he were never going to come back." _So he was joking. A little quip to lighten the mood before he got to the point. _Though Malfoys were never supposed to be anything but calm, collected, and superior at any outing or social event, Draco knew that other pureblood families valued a quick wit and sense of humor… providing that it was in right company. Draco decided there was no point in making up a lie. In all likelihood, he would never see Nicolas again. Foreign families never sent their sons to Hogwarts. Besides, nothing he said or did here would reach the ears of his father. Draco had never had a friend or even met anyone that wasn't directly under his father's thumb. This was refreshing. "Well, I rarely have the time to leave the mansion with all of the extra lessons I have to take to keep up the Malfoy standard... well, you know what it's like."

* * *

Yes, Harry did know what it was like. Not that he had ever been forced to study to match up to his name. _Kill a dark lord more like it…_ But really, he supposed it wasn't all that different. This was the first decent conversation that he had ever had with Malfoy and after all, the boy wasn't being a complete prat. _But then again, I'm not the "oh-so-glorious" Potter. _All in all, he was discovering more about the blond boy than he ever knew. "Father says I should be finished with the second-year material by end-of-summer," Malfoy continued. "So I know there will be no more time to leave the manor after this." _Malfoy looks, almost wistful… _Harry thought. _I refused Malfoy's friendship in the first-year and never got to know him as a person. _Suddenly, he felt a twinge of guilt. He had judged Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherin House on a first impression and gossip from the other first years. He was as guilty as the Death Eaters he was trying to condemn in that point. A determination filled Harry then, if he couldn't befriend Malfoy as himself, he'd befriend him as Nicolas Tan. _I'll be as close a friend as Malfoys are allowed to have,_ he promised himself as he wandlessly changed the name _George Weasley_ into_Draco Malfoy._

* * *

Nicolas got steadily to his feet and Draco felt a twinge of disappointment as he watched. He was finding his first 'real' conversation quite enjoyable. "Leaving so soon?" he teased, letting go of all pretenses. Nicolas grinned and turned with a flourish. "I'm afraid I must leave you Draco, with an adieu and farewell." Draco laughed openly at this, enjoying the exaggerated etiquette. He had hated those lessons as well. He was planning to reply with something witty and equally amusing, but Nicolas had already put on his cloak and was beginning to walk away. Then, turning around, he pulled a strange looking package from his pocket and laid it on the table. "I would keep some galleons with you this time when you get back to the manor," he said, winking. "Oh, and by the way, call me Shifter." Draco could only stare at the retreating back of his…friend? as he walked off.

**(A/N: I wasn't planning to split this chapter into two parts but it was just taking so long to write. I was kind of disappointed with HBP and it threw me off track.)**

**LadyNymph**

**Kristina**

I got both of your reviews. I guess ffnet was just a little slow that day.

**Rasgara**

**Lady Gallatea Ravenclaw**

**Gman5**

**Hope12**

I'm really glad you've enjoyed my story so far. You've been with me from the beginning and I really appreciate that.

**Marquerida**

I've read a lot of fan fictions where 'angry!Harry' just takes charge and butts Dumbledore out of the way but it never seemed very realistic to me. Doesn't it make more sense that even if Harry were going to go against Dumbledore openly that he would need a couple years to acquaint himself with the public and give them a stronger impression that isn't so easily swayed? (Though I think witches and wizards are very easily swayed… kind of like sheep)

Ron does know and Harry will find out but 'in the past' (the first time) Harry never finds out which is why it's going to be such a shock for him this time.

I don't know what I'm going to do with Ron yet but I'm trying not to make him out as evil because so little people start out that way.

**To all of the reviewers who didn't get personal replies, thank you for reviewing. More comments are welcome.**


	9. 06 Marauders Inc Part II

Lessons About A Price Too High

_Chapter 06 Marauders Inc. (Part II)_

**(A/N: As noted in chapter 5, this chapter is dedicated to Cataclysmic, HarrySlytherinson, and ScrewyLouie12)**

"Oh you two!" cried an irate Mrs. Weasley. "Just look what you've done! Ooohh, I have half a mind to…" "But mum! It wasn't OUR fault! We didn't know it was going to happen." It was a lovely peaceful night in Britain; the skies were clear and warm, but you'd never would have known it if you were living in the Weasley household. Mrs. Weasley was in a rage at the ruined carpet in the room of the twins. _Honestly! Bill and Charlie were never like this, and little Ronald was young, but THOSE TWO... Only two years until they take their OWLs and they were still going on with those pranks and all that malarkey. _"Probably won't get 6 OWLs between the two of you!" Mrs. Weasley raged on aloud, still too angry to see the two hurt expressions on her boys' faces. "Oh! And you might have noticed, but that brown owl has been following you two around all afternoon! And what am I going to say to your father when he gets home! A rain cloud for Merlin's sake! Where do you boys get these ideas? Where will we get the mo…" The twins quickly tuned their mother out and turned to the bird. After all, it's not as if they had never heard this lecture before. George grabbed the package from the now very irritated owl deftly and snuck quietly away with Fred at his side. "To the lake," he mouthed.

* * *

"Oye Gred, now that was totally uncalled for wasn't it?" "Darn right Forge, I mean, honestly, we didn't know what was going to happen." "But I still can't believe that we didn't see that owl, Gred." "Well with all the running…"(Fred) "The explosions…"(George) "Wrestling with the cloud…"(Fred) "The lightning…"(George) "Oh! Don't forget the fire."(Fred) "I suppose we got"(George) "a little distracted," they finished together. "What do you think this package's about though?" George asked. "Dunno… read the letter first…"

_Dear Misters Fred and George Weasley,_

_Marauders Incorporated cordially invites you as full-members to enjoy the Marauder's catalogue shopping experience. You were hand-picked, along with four other members, by a few of our select representatives. Congratulations! To accept this invite, please place your hand in the indicated place and say your preferred nick-name._

_Sincerely,_

_Shifter_

_Marauders Inc._

_Secretary of Accounts_

Fred and George stared at each other with bewilderment. "Do you think…?" "No, it couldn't be…" "But what if…? Then they both scrambled for the package. It turned out to be an oval mirror encased in steel with an elegant 'M' embossed at the top. The image on the mirror was the outline of a left hand. The twins turned to each other again, this time with identical grins on both of their faces. If this catalogue was invented by the same people that had invented the Marauder's map, well, it would be something special and they would accept their invites. Little did they know that miles away, five other people were doing exactly what they were about to do.

* * *

As Harry had expected, after the first couple of days of hesitance, business began booming. He was really glad that he had spent those first days making magical replenishing potions because the week after that was his most tiring ever. It was so magically exhausting, in fact, that Harry had to forge sick notes in his uncle's name so that he could keep up with the demand. _The dualis ring has its charms,_ Harry thought, _but it's magically draining for me at this stage._ Sometimes it was difficult to get his intent right (like differentiating one fabric or material from another). This was especially true with big items or items that he had never conjured before. Often times he had to modify what he conjured or reconjure the item completely. His biggest customer had been _Ledrago_ who was ordering healing and magical replenishing potions almost everyday. Then there was _Maniacal Duo_, who almost always ordered potions ingredients. Only the categories 'Robes and Clothing for all Occasions' and 'Potions and Ingredients' were made available as Harry didn't have the magical reserves to open the rest yet. He explained their unavailability by stating that the heads of those specialized categories had gone on a well-deserved vacation which happened every year. Only the Potions Master and Dress Maker had stayed behind. Because Marauders Incorporated never sent out substandard items, the other categories couldn't run without their head and so employees there were also taking some time off.

Harry down at the digital watch on his wrist, which he had treated himself with after his first sale, then looked up at his separate workstations. A blue velvet robe which he had just conjured was self folding and packaging itself on one table while a row of spoons was stirring a row simmering cauldrons on another. Harry himself was at another long table running up and down adding ingredients to another row of cauldrons. It was hard work, keeping all of the cauldrons going at once, but hopefully, he wouldn't have to make anymore magical replenishing potions or the minor bruises and cuts healing potion for the next month. He had done the same thing yesterday with Skelogrow and a nerve healing potion both of which _Ledrago_ had ordered twice so far. Suddenly, feeling weak and light-headed again, Harry walked over to a near by shelf, took an already bottled magical replenishing potion off and downed it. This was the fourth and last magical replenishing potion he could take that day without slipping into a coma. The potion acted like an enzyme to speed up the rate at which the cells in his body could replenish his body but if his cells were overworked too often, then his body would shut down for repair._Thank Merlin tomorrow's the off day_, Harry thought.

Official times that Marauders Inc. was open were from Monday to Saturday from 9am to 12pm. The rest of the time was 'off time'. 'Off time' didn't mean that the orders customers made would definitely not be answered. In the 'help section' it clearly stated that some times, employees would stay after hours or work extra days to help keep things running. To Harry, off time meant that he could ignore an order if he wanted to though he never did ignore Ledrago's orders of healing potions during the few times he did order during the off time.

A _Ping_ ran in Harry's ear where the digital wireless cell-phone headset with microphone currently resided. He had charmed it to ring whenever something was done or a new order had arrived and he nearly always wore it now. Harry looked up at his master set, now thoroughly expanded and hanging on a wall to see if a new order had come in. There wasn't a new order, only a request from Fudge Is A Hippotomagi asking if an order for a small gold pendant could be made even though the jewelry category wasn't available. Pressing a button on his headset, Harry said, " Ven,(pause) 4, (pause) If there are no charms on it, yes. What are the specifications?" Then pressed the button again. Immediately, his message appeared on the mirror as "Ven: If there are…" A moment later, Fudge Is A Hippotomagi, replied with the exact specifications, and Harry, who had been waiting, immediately conjured the small pendant, engraved the Marauders logo on the back and put it on the "wrapping table". Another _Ping_ in his ear made him realize the robes were already finished and Harry imprinted the Marauders logo on the front as he had done on the collar of the robe as well, then scrolled back to the conversation with Seeking Victory to see when he had said the robes would be ready. _Six minutes to spare,_ Harry thought. He was getting more efficient. Another _Ping, _then, he imprinted the Marauders logo on the wrapped pendant and sent the message "Ven: Available. 15 galleons". The next second, 15 galleons appeared, floating in front of the master mirror until Harry reached up and took it. Then, he floated the wrapped pendant in front of the master mirror, and ordered "Send, 4," and the package disappeared.

* * *

At first, Luna was skeptical about the mysterious mirror and letter that had arrived at her home. The fact that she was 'chosen' for anything special made her suspicious, and probably, she thought, it was a scam designed to steal people's gold. However, that day when her father had passed out from overwork on the Quibbler and needed a replenishing potion badly, she found that she had no choice but to try using the Marauders Inc catalogue. The help section was well, very helpful, and she had no problem ordering a magical replenishing potion for her father. The employee member of Marauders Inc (called Proverbial Laughter) was very nice as well and responded immediately when she had said it was an emergency and had gotten the potion to her even before she had paid. From that day onwards, Luna Lovegood never doubted the honesty of Marauders Incorporated again and frequently asked for Proverbial Laughter if he/she was available. A glow emitted from her mirror indicating that something had been received and Luna immediately reached over and tore open the Marauders packaging. _This pendant is perfect._ Luna thought. It followed her specifications to a dot. _They must have hundreds of workers if they were able to get the specifications that quickly…_

**(A/N: A short chapter, but not surprising as it's only wrapping up Marauders Inc Part I. Harry's business management skills will become more organized and less harried as he gains experience.)**

**Dave-Gerecke**

LOL, Harry hasn't been 'back' for more than 2 weeks and he has to get accustomed again and solve his own financial problems before he gets Sirius. Sirius will be in Chapter 07 The Nonexistent Ones.

**Jenniyah**

Yes. Harry will find out.

**Maliaphire**

Thanks! I try to make it easier to understand when he's switching bodies in the future.

**LoLeLiA**

Is this soon enough for you? ;)

**Salazara**

Interesting idea. Ron will gain a secret power later on.

**Never Odd Or even**

Harry won't befriend Draco in Hogwarts but they won't hate each other like they do in canon. Unfortunately, Harry has to convince the Sorting Hat to place him in Griffindor again and pretend to be the Griffindor Golden Boy. Also, Harry only froze the Potter Family Vault so that no more money could be taken from him but he's eleven and in no political position to oust Dumbledore. He can't stop Dumbledore from sending money to the Dursleys and he has to repay the gold he "borrowed" which is why he started Marauders Inc." in the first place. Harry will just have to let Dumbledore take gold from his trust fund until he gains enough power to stop him.


End file.
